Our last full day spent in Hawaii, going to the movies to see Minions, heading to the North Shore for some shrimp, Dairy Queen, etc and our flight back to Japan, the next day...

Alrighty, you guys this is the official last Hawaii vacation 2015 post. It has *never* taken me this long to publish our summer vacation post... in the history of this blog...like ever, and you guys know that. It's just as soon as we got back from Hawaii, we had quite a few things going on. Fun things granted, but busy things too. Anyway, back to the post at hand. I shared this same pic, on the post where I talked about us going to see the movie, Inside Out, the same post I informed ya'll it was called Inside Head in Japan, when was that...2 weeks ago?  Anyways, if you look at the tickets on the right. You will see, that first thing Friday morning, July 24th our family caught the first showing of the day of the movie Minions. We saw it right near our condo, in Kapolei.  The movie started at 10:30am. However we woke up around 7:30am. And we all got dressed and ready for the day and had our morning breakfast yogurts. And we packed up our movie candy and chocolate bought from Target the night before, and we hit the movie. We bought our tickets, then bought a bucket of popcorn and a large soda and some nachos and went and grabbed some seats. What did we think of the movie Minions? It was hilarious! So funny. So many people were laughing in the movie theater and so were we. We definitely enjoyed Minions! So that was the 3rd and final movie we saw while in Hawaii. Terminator Genysis, Inside Out and Minions. We have seen 2 others while in Guam, this past week, Pixels and Vacation! Pixels was awesome, the music and 80's references were so funny. And Vacation...was so good, I have to get that on DVD, for sures! Literally people were laughing hysterically for the entire movie of Vacation. And usually remakes or...although this is NOT a remake. It was like the 2nd chapter, so to speak, this new Vacation movie. However this was equal to the original Vacation if not...dare I say... funnier. If you have seen Vacation and the sense of humor matched yours, you'll enjoy this one a lot. However, if you didn't dig the original Vacation at all...don't see this one, because it's funny and yes it has some crude jokes and whatnot in there, but we loved it! Absolutely loved it! : )

After the movie, we spent our final day enjoying the North Shore. We wanted to go and have some of our favorite spicy garlic shrimp. This is a random shrimp truck on the North Shore. There are food trucks all over the North Shore. And people from all over the world on vacation go and enjoy them!

Another random pic, I took of some families enjoying some shrimp truck... yum yum goodness.

And us pulling into the North Shore McD's. Noah does not like shrimp, as you know. Which is fine...because we're all different and like different things. Also important to note, he keeps trying each and every year. When we had our shrimp, a few days earlier at the mall before hitting Sephora, he ate one of Noboru's shrimps and while he did try it...he's not quite there yet. And you know what...that's okay. : ) At least he tries it. An A for effort, as they say. Hopefully the taste will be good to him someday and if not...hey no worries, kiddo, we have your back. And to McD's for infinity, I will take you, if need be. : ) Awww. 

All the infamous shave ice places at the North Shore! 

Aww, our favorite truck...you are there! We were like...oh yeah! We parked the car immediately and went right up and placed our order. : ) The trucks might look scary, but I assure you, they're truly ono (delicious) 

A garlic butter sauce over the rice. And the shrimp and the way the cabbage underneath the shrimp turns all spicy and garlic buttery. I ate every shrimp and every piece of cabbage off my plate. And every grain of the garlic rice. Gosh dang it...it is good. So good. 

We bought drinks at a grocery store along the way. 88 cents if you used your club card and so...I used the club card. : ) So we had our drinks cheaply. Branden was like...this is *so* freaking good. And Noboru chimed in and said...I think this shrimp is better then Andy's shrimp (the one we had a few days earlier). I had to say...I do agree. This shrimp is so good. Like...we could eat this every single day of our lives... type good. : ) But good thing.. it's just a once a year treat. : ) 

Noah meanwhile munched his cheeseburger, tiniest size of fries ever, even smaller than a size small in Japan. Hahaha. And Noah also received this bag of apples. And so he munched on some apple. And chatted with us.... shrimp eaters. Hahaha. : )  After that, we took a nice and slow drive and started to make that lap around the island and our next stop? Dairy Queen of course! : ) 

Both of the boys enjoying their DQ Blizzards. Noah's was a child's size and he had a Jurassic World cup. : ) Bran had a size small, which is the same size Noboru had...which was more than enough ice cream for them. We talked while eating our ice cream. Man...it was a nice day, that day! : ) 

I meanwhile had a Peanut Buster Parfait. Hot fudge, nuts layered with soft serve ice cream. Lordy lordy, this was *so* good. Some lady went to pick up a birthday cake from DQ, while we were eating our icecream...and the cake was not right. What was wrong with the cake? I don't know. But she picked up the cake...must have got as far... as her car, in the parking lot and came right back with cake in hand. The ladies working there, were looking at the cake. She was just out of ear shot. But we chatted among ourselves. (In a hushed voice we said) I bet somethings wrong with her cake. Wonder if the wording on her cake was wrong? Anyway we chatted about the birthday cake. And then we chatted about the shrimp. Pearl Harbor...the movies we saw. And basically, we chatted about how the very next day... we were to leave Hawaii. How did I feel? I was ready to go back home to Japan. We spent 5 *amazing* nights in Hawaii, 6 amazing days there. Plus 1 full day/night travelling to Hawaii and back if you combine the both flights together. So we were gone from home for around a week. And it was a nice vacation. Granted our vacation was 2 days shorter since we were trying to originally get to California. But honestly... a weeks vacation is a perfect amount of days. We felt superly well rested. Extremely happy. We saw so much...did so much. Had such a fantastic day at the beach in Kailua, with a picnic lunch and our beach chairs. We felt *really* happy with this years summer vacation. Truly satisfied. One day our boys will be grown adults and these vacations... will be just a thing of the past. Or a thing of my Throwback Thursdays, and I know that. And so while the kids are still kids...I want to enjoy *every* single summer we can! I know many of you definitely "get that" : )  Friday night...we went and enjoyed our last nights dinner. We decided to go to the Outback Steakhouse (but didn't turn out as planned). One of our favorite American restaurants, is the Outback Steakhouse. However the line in Kapolei was like hours long. And I turned to Noboru and said..."you know what honey... let's forget it...let's not waste a minute of our last night, waiting in line." Let's just get something we all want. Noboru was like...I feel the exact same way.  And so we asked the kids and ourselves. Noboru said...he'd like to enjoy some Wendy's and that he loves their chili and their Cesar salads and burgers. And Branden chimed in and said...I'd like to eat Wendy's too. Noah was on board with the Wendy's plan and so I said..." cool, let's do this!" And we left the Outback parking lot and headed to the simplest of dinners for our very last night in Hawaii. We went into Wendy's and a very lovely kiddo about the age of 17, named Brandon. : ) Waited on us. He was just the best...you could tell... this is just his after school job. We placed our order and then we sat down. I had the Monterrey chicken sandwich with a cheese and butter potato on the side, with a blueberry lemonade. Noah had a chicken sandwich and a small chili. Noboru true to what he said, had 1 Cesar salad, 1 cheeseburger and 1 medium chili. Bran had a cheeseburger combo with fries and a drink. We ate...it was a simple...totally not fancy meal.. in the least...but considering how we are (we definitely don't put on airs in our family)...our last meal... fit us to a T. We went back to our condo. We packed up all our suitcases. Placed every one's clothes for the next days flight out, on the kitchen chairs. And we all took showers and went to sleep. Our flight the next day was at 1pm Hawaii time. Saturday.July 25th. We would be landing back in Japan, Sunday July 26th, 

We left the condo, Saturday morning. Went to Mc D's for breakfast, considering we ate yogurts for breakfast the whole week, McD's was a nice breakfast the morning we left. Gosh we loved that condo. We took the rental car back. And we took the shuttle back to the airport. We were at the airport by 10:30am. We checked in, checked in our bags. and the line through the TSA, was super long. But we got through it and we just sat near the gate. We boarded the airplane. And this pic was taken from my big diagonal pod seat... which is why my seat is facing the window. : ) We were just lifting off the ground and you can still see a bit of ground but can tell..we are definitely, in lift off mode, during this pic. 

Bye stunning and gorgeous Oahu. Bye Hawaii. We love you and will miss you! We had a magnificent time. I looked out that window until...we climbed so high, we were above the clouds and I could no longer see the land below. *happy sigh* What a wonderful summer vacation. And so, I closed my window shade. And started to search for the movie on demand, that I was about to watch and enjoy. : ) 

Marinated grilled chicken breast with cheese, rice and veggies. a dinner roll with a special Hawaiian butter. Some shrimp plate and salad combo. And that lovely green salad. 

Toasted pecans with a sweet crunch around them. Sour cranberries. a nice delicious feta cheese. And some cooked sweet apple with some very sour vinaigrette on top. I enjoyed my feta cheese, cranberry and pecan lettuce salad, tremendously. : ) We landed in Narita, it was now Sunday, July 26th and good thing we live so close. We arrived home within 20 minutes. Dropped our luggage off and everyone went to the restroom and we then left the house and headed out for supper.  

We went to have curry at Coco Ichiban Curry. I had the pork curry with veggies, the kids had a chicken cutlet curry each and Noboru had the tonkatsu curry, we also shared 2 small fries, the four of us. We ate and then we went back home. We all took turns showering. and we went immediately to sleep. Anyway, that's our family's Hawaiian vacation 2015. : )

Another one of our fun days spent on the island of Oahu...The Dole Pineapple Plantation, The North Shore, yummy Shrimp trucks, Ala Moana Shopping Mall, Sephora, MAC, Nordies and Walmart...

Tuesday, July 29th our family wanted to head to the North Shore for a day of site seeing and spicy garlic shrimp eating and before all that... we would head to the Dole Pineapple Plantation along the way, we woke up bright and early and got a pretty early start. However...on our drive to the Dole Pineapple Plantation we passed right by the hospital where Branden was born at. The Kaiser Moana Lua. We always point it out to the kids in the car before we even get close. And Branden loves hearing all our little stories. They always ohh and awe at this building every time we drive passed (we do the same when we drive passed Noah's place of birth in Funabashi). : ) One of my many stories is, the doctor was the first to point out that Branden had dimples! One of, Noboru's stories is, there was so much security on the maternity floor that he needed a special wrist band and stuff each time he came to visit! Hahaha. My other story was...after dinner every evening.. a few hours after dinner ended each night a lady would roll around a free sandwich cart, they had the most delicious roast beef and also had turkey sandwiches. And if you got hungry afterwards... you could find extra sammys in a little nook area for us mom's. : )  This hospital was so awesome. They even helped me when I was having trouble breastfeeding at first, made me an appointment with a helper from an expert from La Leche League (breastfeeding organization) and said Bran was latching too tightly, she showed Branden how to *not* clamp on so tightly, gave me a few pointers in case he ever latched too tightly again. Might be TMI...but this hospital was the absolute best! An epidural and in my native language, it was just a really wonderful experience. Noah's delivery was in Japan and we found a pain free clinic and it was *amazing* too. Anyway...back on the subject.... 

There's a lot of the American military about, which is wonderful, they do such a good job! : )

Almost there...a couple more minutes and then we'll be at Dole!

Gorgeous!

Dole Pineapple Plantation 2014!!!

Delicious, pineapple soft serve and fresh pineapple!! It melts super fast... so eat quickly everyone! : ) 

Branden enjoying his...we all enjoyed our own! And the pineapple was so sweet!

There was a peacock walking around. Everyone there... is just in this relaxed mood. Us too. We bought 2 things at Dole. 1 for us and 1 for Omiyage/souvenir.

Nearing the North Shore now. Matsumoto Shave ice. The line to get a shave ice is REALLY long here. This place is very popular with the Japanese tourists, it's in practically every tourist book in Japanese you can find. Famous Japanese people come here and give their autographs here, pictures of Japanese talent are visible inside. So while there are a few American or other tourists, most are from Japan, we have personally been here 3-4 times. We have been in here before...and don't shoot me for saying this but..I don't see a huge flavor difference of this shave ice than say for example... Joe Blows shave ice from down the street, or ours made at home. I just in all honestly don't see a huge difference that would warrant you standing in a 20 minute line to buy a $6 shave ice or however how much. 

Meanwhile this place not 20 steps away is as... dead as a door nail. Go figure. And we have had shave ice from here once before too. And I felt it was no different than Matsumoto's either, not better, not worse either...pretty much same. But again...if you were coming from Japan and you had seen it in the "places to go" brochure...sure I can understand you wanting to try Matsumoto's but honestly tastes no different than any other shave ice you'd find anywhere else. 

Food trucks are all over the North Shore. Some have fish tacos. Some have Thai. You can find just about any type a food in a truck around the North Shore...however the #1 most common thing to find is the shrimp trucks. 

Another shave ice stand...again no 20 minute long line at all...American tourists buying from here. 

Fresh fruit stand...lots of fresh fruit found along the North Shore. 

Again...very eco, very green. Right on North Shore! : ) 

We always went to Andy's until they moved to the Waikiki area. Last year we went to Giovanni's and hated it. It was Tabasco type hot and not really flavorful type hot. This year we were deciding on Fumi's or Macky's or just simply a place called..."Famous Kahuku Shrimp"...we decided to try...Famous Kahuku Shrimp this year and we loved it!

First stop... buy Noah something before we hit the shrimp truck. At his age, he doesn't really care for shrimp...but granted Branden didn't like it at the same age and now he loves it...so I think Noah will love it in due time. : ) Who knows, we'll see. : ) We also bought 2 large drinks at Taco Bell, just cheaper than buying a can of drink at the shrimp truck. 

The shrimp was really good, the flavor was delicious, I could see pieces of garlic in it, it was hot spicy and garlic-y and also buttery. So good. 

2 of the tables near us were locals. And the rest of all other tables were from Korea with a tour guide. At many shrimp trucks... the shrimp plates are $14-$16 bucks each plate, these plates were however $12 US....so we really liked this place, we liked the price and we'll come back. 

What's the name of this place? Famous Kahuku Shrimp. A really simple name. : ) 

A very typical tagged up truck...but some truly ono (delicious) eats!!! Don't let the scary truck stop you from giving it a try! Ohh, also forgot 1 thing...they also can give you a half and half shrimp...meaning/such as half fried coconut shrimp and have spicy garlic shrimp. So while this place might not be as fancy as the other trucks...this truck has some amazing food. 

The drive was just so beautiful and scenic and with full tummy's, we were all pretty happy enjoying our drive around the North Shore. 

See that formation in the water back there...that's called "Chinaman's Hat." 

So by now it's 1:30pm-ish. Again we had a very early morning start...to be fair we were at Dole as soon as they opened. So we got the ball rollin' super early. Anyway we went to the Ala Moana shopping mall as soon as we got back to the Waikiki area from the North Shore. I did go to Sephora (bought a few things, took about 30 mins) Mac (bought 1 thing, took less than 5 mins MAC Studio Fix NC20 so easy purchase)..went to Nordies (bought a makeup finishing spray and a bag/purse (knew the spray I wanted and the bag was somethign that caught my eye, loved it at first site and had to have, plus it was on sale for $24.99 and gorgeous!!! again took barely no time at all) 2nd bag bought this trip, because 1st bag I got was from the first day and from Target...anyway...after Nordies we went to Walmart which is right next to the Ala Moana mall. 2 Secret deodorants for me and 2 for Bran (Bran did clearly not get Secret brand, I'm just saying)...2 Secret body sprays for me. Advil (for this, I need name brand I bought generic once and will never again buy generic.. I need Advil)...generic version of Neosprin. Toilet deodorizer a bunch of them. American flag pencils for the kids. Gummy worms etc for the movie later that night. 2 DVD's (Uncle Buck in the $5 bin and the story on Cesaer Chavez...same as the 12 years a Slave movie, must know history...the good and the bad). Twinkies. Miracle Whip and this Suave Shine shampoo/conditioner is *so* good...we used it in the hotel during our stay...anyway it gave me the nicest hair, during the rest of our Honolulu stay..made my hair so soft so shiny..smelled so seriously good. I had to buy more of this shampoo while in Guam. Buffalo Wing powder and Velveeta Chicken skillet dinner dish. We then dropped off everything off at the hotel, we all went pee/to the bathroom. I freshened up my makeup a tad and we left.  Walmart really didn't take us that long because the majority of stuff we picked up at Target days before... so Walmart was just mostly sratching a few last things off the list and then bopping down a few food aisles and cosmetic or shampoo type aisles or DVD aisle. 

Straight to China Town... for Mexican food. China Town here is really famous and if we had more time, more days we would have loved to try out a restaurant or two. 

Almost there..I can see the sign and the kids running to it...

Wonkwonkwonk!!! What the heck?? Their restaurant closed at 3pm that day? @.@ What restaurant closes at 3pm?!!! Well apparently... this one, lol. Forget the fact... that parking costs in China Town are expensive/ridiculous. I think we paid $5 to park and leave in under 10 minutes... since the restaurant was closed. And for what it's worth...we did check their website online THAT MORNING and the days open and closed and hours open were NOT, I repeat NOT on there! We were a little irritated for a minute or two...we talked crap/smack all the way back to the rental car...just being honest (can you believe this restaurant...what type a restaurant is this...blah blah blah nothing serious or anything). But by the time we got back to the car we were over it...we felt we got it off our chests. And we were ready to move on! Seriously not worth more than 2-3 minutes tops....nothings worth ruining an entire evening about. So we moved on...we had planned to go and see a movie after supper. However now we just went to the movie first. 

The movies at the Dole Cannery seem to be the cheapest place to see a movie. Their movie tickets are just $6 US. Plus...we get points because we have a Regal movie card and the movie theater we go to in Guam is Regal too...so every 2 or 3 movies we go to and buy snacks from...we collect points and with the points..we get a free drink or free popcorn that type a thing. And free charger for electric cars at the movies, right on! 

In Guam this would be $5US but in Honolulu at the Dole cannery it's $6... which is still a super good price on movie tickets. It really is a great price. Our movie was in theater #15...and we went to see the new Planet of the Apes movie...Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. We bought a tub of popcorn and a large soda and the kids had their gummy worms and Noah had sour gummy worms. : )

What's that old saying...when life gives you lemons make lemonade...well sorta/semi along those lines...when the restaurant you and yours, have been wanting to try is closed...go to the movies instead. And it was an excellent movie!!! We loved it! : )

Noboru loves Zippy's. So we went to Zippy's. I had a hot turkey sandwich with gravy and mashed potatoes.

Noah had mac and cheese and Branden had the famous Zippy's chili with hot dog, rice and corn. Zippy's really is famous for their chili. : ) 

Noboru had the Saimin, his favorite thing to eat at Zippy's. Wednesday, the next day we went to the beach and had a chill day there with picnic lunch again. : )